Collections of chemicals are assemblies of substances associated to chemical operations. These collections often have a large historical significance and can be found in departments, research institutions, schools or other spaces. So far, seldom dedicated studies have been made, both to the materiality of these collections, as well as for their conservation. For this dissertation, the glass containers in the collection of historical chemicals from the National Museum of Natural History and Science from the University of Lisbon (MUHNAC) are studied, as they are the largest storage material found in the collection and present signs of active deterioration, in the form of corrosion patterns. This research followed a three-fold approach – a collection survey was performed to assess the collection’s dimension; followed by a full conservation assessment of the corrosion patterns, collection locations and environmental conditions and the establishment of the conservation condition for the collections’ glasses. Lastly, an analytical approach was taken. Glass surface measurements indicate the alkalinisation of the glasses, as a sign of active corrosion. Through the use of in situ p-XRF analyses, glass chemical composition groups are correspondent with soda-lime-silicate glasses. Samples of aqueous chemical solutions were also collected and analysed through ICP-AES and HPIC with the goal to determine if the chemicals matched the containers’ labels and if they may present glass dissolution products. One of the outcomes of this dissertation is the development of preservation guidelines, through the empirical and analytical data gathered from the study of the MUHNAC’s collection, as well as the results of a survey addressed to similar institutions holding historical collections of chemicals. The final result is the proposal of guidelines that outline selection criteria for chemicals, tools and measures for collections’ care to objects and actions for collections’ keepers. It is intended that these guidelines may aid small and large institutions in the preservation of their collections
